


I've never felt so at home (when you are right by my side)

by ohmypreciousgirl



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2017, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2018-01-19 00:04:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1447927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmypreciousgirl/pseuds/ohmypreciousgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One night, Oliver ended sleeping next to Felicity. Then, it just escalated from there.</p><p>Because of course it did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 01

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is canon compliant until Suicide Squad (S02E16). 
> 
> Title is a combination of the lines from 'The Saltwater Room' by Owl City and 'You Bring Me Home' by Brandon Chandler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I want to thanks everyone who sent me a welcome back message! Your support is very important to me! This fic came back not only because of Olicity canon awesomeness, but also because of the amazing feedback I get from you guys ♥ Thanks for being here and I hope you will love the upgraded version of this adventure that started at the beginning of 2014 and only now will finally see an ending ♥
> 
> Second, this work is here today thanks to the help of two special people: [infinisei](https://infinisei.tumblr.com/) and [so-caffeinated](https://so-caffeinated.tumblr.com/). They have helped so much, guys! If this fic is smooth, it's because of them ahahaha I adore them both and I can't wait to share the adventure of finally ending this story with the two of them :D
> 
> Now, enjoy the chapter!

 

 

The first thing Felicity recognized as she regained consciousness was the familiar low beeping coming from the heart monitor nearby.

Instinctively, she opened her eyes. In hindsight, this wasn't one of her brighter ideas. Wincing at the brightness of the room, she gasped when a sharp pain shot between her eyes.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she heard Dig say from her left.

Blinking repeatedly, she turned toward his voice. He was sitting next to the bed, just a few inches away from her. Relief engulfed her at the blurry figure Dig made.

“Hey, there,” she managed to say before a coughing attack took her by surprise.

“Have some water,” Dig said, holding out the glass from her nightstand so she could sip some through the straw. “Your doctor will be here soon.”

“Thanks,” she muttered as she tentatively drank it. She relished the cool water as it quenched the thirst she hadn’t realized she felt.

“How do you feel?” Dig asked with a note of concern in his voice.

“Like my head's about to explode.”

“Well, you gave everyone quite a scare, Felicity.”

She took a deep breath, trying to piece together what exactly happened to end with her at the hospital, but there was just a huge blank in her memory.

“What happened?” She asked, trying to not panic from her lack of recollection.

“You were getting into your house when you were drugged and kidnapped by Slade’s men.”

Her whole body froze at the revelation. She didn’t remember being attacked or any kidnapping. Actually, her last memory was of watching Oliver and Sara spar together and feeling a bit resentful at her inability to fight like them.

Well, Sara mostly. But, she was trying to avoid comparing herself to Oliver’s current girlfriend and how she was a total badass ways that Felicity couldn’t ever dream of... Which was totally beside the point right then.  

“I-I don’t remember that,” Felicity confessed. “The last thing I recall is being at the foundry and...that’s it.”

Dig sighed, before speaking again. “The doctors warned us it was possible you’d forget the whole thing.”

“Why?”

“It was a mix of drugs that they kept dosing you with over and over again. The doctors weren’t even sure if you’d wake up from it.”

Felicity felt a lump forming in her throat, trying to assimilate the information.

“It was bad, Felicity,” Dig said in his very serious tone. “It was incredibly bad.”

“How bad?” She asked in a shaky tone.

“You disappeared without a trace for two weeks. It was a miracle we managed to find you,” he hesitated for a second before continuing. “I’m not a religious man, but I swear I prayed every day that we’d find you and you’d be okay because I don’t know what would’ve happened to Oliver if...”

“W-what do you mean?”

He took another breath, rubbing his hand over his chin. “He just...lost it.”

“Can you be more specific?” She requested, annoyed at Dig’s hesitancy.

“He beat several men that were involved in your kidnapping to death, Felicity.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, guilt and anguish washing over her body as she assimilated Dig’s words.

“So he killed again because of me,” she declared in a shaky voice.

“Don’t blame yourself, Felicity. That - unfortunately - is on him. It was his choice, not yours.”

“But it was because of me, John!” She insisted, her eyes welling up.

“And you’re not responsible for the actions of other people, only your own,” Dig said firmly. “You didn’t choose to be kidnapped, just like you didn’t choose the way you’d be rescued, Felicity.”

“How did you rescue me, Dig?” Seeing Dig’s hesitancy, she warned him, “Be honest with me.”

Dig huffed, rubbing his chin with his hand. “I honestly am not sure how we pulled it off.”

“I hope you have a better explanation than that, Diggle.”

“Oliver pulled a lot of strings with ARGUS and the Bratva to make it happen,” Felicity’s eyes widened at the mention of the Russian mafia and their sometimes-allied shady governmental agency. “All I know is that three nights ago he arrived with a name and a location and that was it.”

“And what? You just burst me out of wherever I was and Oliver beat people to death?”

“Yeah,” Dig nodded. “Pretty much what happened.”

Felicity sighed, feeling suddenly tired. “Did Oliver manage to get Slade Wilson?”

Dig shook his head. “No, he wasn’t anywhere close to the place you had been kept.”

“Where was I, anyway?”

“Slade confined you in a psychiatric hospital as an in-patient. They kept you drugged in one of the basement rooms the whole time. You were completely out of it when we found you.”

“Right,” Felicity said, trying to internalize everything that Dig had just told her. It seemed she’d had a hell of a time and she didn’t ever remember half of it.

She’d literally lost weeks of her life and she hadn’t even had the slightest idea it was happening. That was a troubling thought.

“Felicity, listen,” Dig started, drawing her attention back to him. “We were all worried about you and we would do everything we could to get you back, okay? Don’t blame yourself for things you didn’t play an actual part in.”

“It’s just…” she paused, trying to reorganize her feelings and thoughts. “Every single time Oliver has to rescue me, he always break his promise and ends up killing. He did it with the Count and now with Slade’s men. I just…” She shrugged her arms, not finding a way to express how she felt about it.

“With Oliver, there’s a line. If someone crosses it, they end up dead.”

“What are you implying, John?” Felicity frowned at his alarming suggestion.

“Come on, Felicity,” he shook his head. “You’re smarter than this, right?”

She remained in silence, expecting Dig to elaborate whatever he was trying to tell her.

“First, Helena threatened his family and Tommy. Even with them, Oliver tried to work around it and talk sense into her. But the second she put her hands on you, she was done. Thea and Laurel were both in danger a few months ago, and none of the people who tried to hurt them ended up dead, but both times you were the victim, none of your attackers walked away alive. Do you see where am I’m going with this?”

“Yeah. And that’s a scary thought,” she muttered, aghast.

“It was scarier having to witness it,” Diggle declared. “I thought I had seen Oliver at his worst, but the way he was... It was just disturbing.”

A sinking feeling settled in her stomach at Dig’s words and the tone of his voice. She had no idea how she could even start to make sense of that kind of information.

She always knew that he’d be worried and probably drowning in guilt if something ever happened to her in their line of work, but she never expected...this. Honestly, she couldn’t even picture Oliver losing his head over her the way Dig was implying.

“How is he now?” She asked, afraid of the answer.

“Sara had to dose him with a strong sedative to force him to sleep, so he won’t be here for a while. God knows he needs every opportunity possible to rest.”

Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but the arrival of the doctor interrupted her words.

“Hello, Ms. Smoak. I’m Dr. Decker, I’m the doctor responsible for your recovery.” The blonde woman offered Felicity a smile. “How are you feeling now that you’re awake?”

Felicity threw a last glance at Dig before turning to the doctor and smiling. They’d have time to talk about the Oliver situation  _later_.

 

* * *

 

Except, later didn’t come because the next time she woke up it was to Oliver watching her.

She was not only surprised by his presence, but also his appearance. Apparently, Dig had forgotten to mention Oliver looked like he was mauled by a big animal. He had bruises all over, around his eyes, chin, and neck. Added to that, there was a brutal cut on his lips, which were incredibly swollen in a way that was more I-fought-a-bear-and-only-kinda-won than I-had-a-hot-make-out-session-with-my-assassin-girlfriend. Topping this all was the realization she could distinguish all of this without her glasses and - wow - did that speak volumes about how bad his situation really was.

“I thought it was impossible for you look unattractive, but you look awful,” were the cringe-worthy words that slipped from her mouth as greeting.

A short chuckle escaped his lips, a spark of amusement flashing in his eyes.

“Hello to you too,” he said in a soft voice, leaning closer to her bed.

“Hi,” she said. “And sorry for that... Pain meds let my tongue loose.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow and Felicity felt her cheeks redden.

“Well, looser - if that’s even a word,” she tried to amend and his only response was to shake his head with a small smile on his lips.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, extending his arm to take her hand into his.

Felicity dry swallowed, licking her suddenly parched lips before replying sincerely.

“My head isn’t killing me anymore.”

“I’m glad to hear.”

“And how are you?” She threw back his question. “Not very good if your wounds have anything to say about it.”

“It was nothing,” he shrugged her off. “You were the one who was kidnapped and kept under drugs for two weeks.”

“You look like you were mauled by a bear, so I think my question is valid.”

“I’m fine, Felicity,” he said in that dismissive tone she hated so much.

“Yeah, right,” she retorted, but didn’t say anything else. She knew when it was useless to push him to open up.

He squeezed her hand, offering a placating smile. “You’re alive and awake. So, I’m honestly fine.”

Her breath lodged in her throat at the way Oliver spoke those words. Although Dig’s implication seemed a bit far fetched at the time, it seemed to hold some truth now. There was something about the intonation of his voice combined with the way he was looking at her that left Felicity… stunned.

“Diggle told me you’re going home this weekend,” Oliver said after a beat of silence.

“Yeah,” she nodded at him, pushing away whatever that happened from her mind. “Dr. Decker said my blood tests came back almost clean, so I’ll be completely free from the cocktail drug they gave me by Saturday.”

“Good,” he replied with an intense look in his eyes that Felicity couldn’t decipher.

Silence fell between them for a couple of moments until his fixed gaze drove her to such uncomfortable levels that she had to do something to fill the void.

“Thanks, by the way,” Felicity said with a smile. “For rescuing me, I mean.”

“You never have to thank me for that,” he said in a tone that didn’t leave room for argument. “I will always come for you, Felicity.”

A heavy silence settled over the room at his declaration, filling it with some kind of energy that not even Felicity had courage to disturb with her normal babbling. In response, she just nodded.

“You should sleep,” Oliver suggested.

“I’m not tired.” And, because the universe hated her, a big yawn escaped from her mouth.

Oliver only raised an eyebrow in return.

“Fine,” she relinquished. “Maybe I could do with some rest.”

“Sleep, Felicity.”

She told herself she’d only close her eyes for a few seconds, she needed to talk to Oliver about a few things. But then slumber engulfed her and the last thing she remembered was the sensation of fingers caressing her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to hit the kudos button and drop a comment about the story! But if you already gave me kudos and doesn't know what to say, I'll swear I'll be satisfied with just a 'EXTRA KUDOS ♥'. I just want to know people care and want more ♥**
> 
>  
> 
> Chapter 2 will be available next Friday (Nov. 17)
> 
> See you next week :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to say THANKS for the amazing support I'm getting from all of you. It took more days than planned, but it's here. There was a couple of issues with the editing work (and me getting into Kastle fandom oops), but now everything is fine! I hope you'll love it ♥
> 
> Second, the usual thanks for my amazing betas! [infinisei](https://infinisei.tumblr.com/) and [effie214](https://effie214.tumblr.com/) worked with me in this chapter and it was amazing! It's a delight working with them ♥
> 
> Now, enjoy the chapter!

The next few days went by in a blink of the eye. Following Dr. Decker’s orders to take it easy to ensure the drugs were out of her system before she could be discharged, she spent most of her time sleeping and resting. Not that it was particularly easy to do, as a surprising number of people were constantly around her at all times.

Felicity couldn’t remember a single moment that she woke up by herself. Oliver was almost a permanent fixture in her hospital room, and Diggle was around almost as much. Roy would drop by whenever he had free time, while Sara and Lyla would come over for a few minutes every few days just to see how she was doing. Having that many people around at once was kind of a novelty for her.

Don’t get her wrong, Felicity had people that cared for her in the form of her mother and deceased boyfriend, but they had never taken care of her in the same way her team did. It was understandable that she was still getting used to having other people genuinely concerned about her – especially someone so emotionally closed off like Oliver usually was.

This week, though, he’d been very attentive and thoughtful the whole time she’d been at the hospital. He’d sneaked several cupcakes from the little place downtown that she usually went on the weekends. He brought a few books so she wouldn’t be bored out of her mind when she was tired of watching television. They had many conversations, but he stayed clear of any heavy subjects and, every time she tried to start a serious conversation, he talked her out of it by either using the excuse that they would do it when she was out of the hospital or avoiding it altogether - which was the reason the following words left her lips when he stopped the car in front of her house.

“Stay with me tonight,” Felicity said, immediately regretting how the words came out of her mouth. “I meant in a I’m-going-to-buy-you-Chinese-’cause-you-are-a-great-friend way and not in a come-on way,” she amended. “I wouldn’t ever do that, I mean, I don’t have a death wish,” she tried to joke, finishing with an awkward laugh.

Unfortunately, if his stoic expression was anything to go by, Oliver missed the quip.

“It was a joke because your girlfriend is a ninja assassin and… Nevermind.” She cut herself off. “So, Chinese, yes or no?”

There was a couple of seconds of silence before Oliver spoke.

“Sara isn’t my girlfriend anymore.” Felicity froze, her eyes widening at his revelation before he continued. “We broke up.”

“What? Why?” She inquired, confused. “You guys seemed to be doing great with all the sparring, crime fighting, and being cutesy in the foundry...” She stopped abruptly, realizing the kind of question she just asked him. “I mean, if you want to tell me. You don’t have to, that’s none of my business, I’m…”

“We just aren’t right for each other as a couple,” Oliver answered with a shrug, ignoring the out she gave him.

“I’m sorry,” she told him honestly, extending her her hand to lay on his shoulder and squeeze slightly, like he always did for her whenever she was upset.

“It’s fine,” he said in his familiar dismissive tone. “It’s not like I expected our relationship to last.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, Oliver.”

“Felicity,” he fixed his gaze on hers, enunciating her name as he always did when he wanted to convey something important to her. “I’m not heartbroken or upset over the breakup, okay? I swear to you.”

She stared at his eyes, paying extra attention to his expression to catch any trace of a lie, but there wasn’t anything to find. He was being completely honest with her.

“Okay. Good,” she nodded in approval. “I don’t like to see you hurting.”

“I’m not,” he assured Felicity. “But thanks. For asking.”  

She offered him a soft smile, wondering if it was wise to say what was on her mind. She threw caution to the evening wind at their backs when he smiled back.

“Sara may not be the right one for you, but you’ll find someone who you’ll just click with,” she paused, pondering her next words. “Just don’t give up on love. You deserve some happiness too.”

The smile on his face disappeared, replacing it with an expression that she’d only seen when she’d told him that he deserved better than Isabel.

The silence stretched between them until the quiet became intolerable to Felicity, who broke the serious atmosphere with a simple question: “So, Chinese?”

“Yes, I’d love to spend the night with you eating Chinese,” Oliver replied with a serious face, though his eyes sparkled with mirth.

Surprised, Felicity could only laugh, and from the way Oliver’s lips twitched at her reaction, Felicity had a feeling that making her laugh had been his intention all along.

Felicity was okay with that.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Felicity said, opening her door and walking inside her townhouse.

She turned on the lights, hanging her bag close to the door before turning around to lock up behind him.

“You can sit down,” Felicity told Oliver, pointing with her head at the beige sofa on the left side of the room. “I promise it won’t bite you.”

He smiled, but remained standing in the middle of her living room as he took in the space around him for the first time.

“It’s very you,” he said with a soft smile, approval exuding from those words.

“Thanks,” she replied, proudly. She loved the home she had built for herself and knowing that Oliver could see Felicity in it too meant a lot to her.

“Nice touch,” he sent her a teasing smile while pointing at her Robin Hood poster.

She rolled her eyes at him, but she felt her cheeks get warmer at his teasing.

“Come on, sit down and relax,” she repeated, pointing to the sofa. “I’ll open the windows to air the place a bit and order our food.”

As she walked around the room, she felt Oliver’s eyes following every step she took. She didn’t give into the instinct to turn and watch him back.

Felicity got distracted placing their orders that she didn’t even notice when Oliver actually listened to her and got comfortable. And god, what attractive image he made with his jacket off and his grey long-sleeve shirt half rolled-up.

Felicity almost had to bite down on her tongue not to make any comment related to Oliver’s size. She had wondered how he’d look like in her home, sprawled on her sofa, watching TV with her. Sometimes, when she hit rock bottom, she even pictured him in her bed, wondering how he’d fit, both on the furniture and in her life outside of their work. And God only knew how easily the sight before her now could lead to a mortifying babble.

“The food will be here in 25 minutes,” she informed him, taking off her flats and joining him on the sofa, at his left side.  
  
“Alright,” he turned to face her, leaning his body into the remaining space between them.

Feeling distracted by his proximity, it took a couple of moments to register that Oliver was just sitting in silence on her sofa, watching her closely.

She licked her lips, her hands playing with the hem of her dress as the quiet increased her anxiety over the moment she was sharing with Oliver. In her home.

“Thanks, by the way,” she found herself telling him.

“For what?” Oliver asked, curiosity tinging his voice.

“Everything, I guess,” she shrugged. “Bringing me back home, spending the week at the hospital to keep me company, saving me once again… You can pick.”

He offered her a small smile. “You don’t need to thank me, Felicity,” he paused, reaching for her hand. “Anything for you.”

“That’s a dangerous promise,” she replied with a loose grin, trying to lighten the weight of his words had on her.

“Doesn’t make it any less true, though,” he said, his gentle expression morphing into one of seriousness.

She swallowed hard, knowing the time for the serious conversation she knew they needed to have had arrived, even if neither of them were fully ready for it.

“You killed because of me. Again.”

At her words, Oliver dropped her hand. His jaw clenched in the way that let her know he didn’t like the turn their conversation was taking.

“I’m so sorry you got put in that situation again because of me.”

Oliver shook his head, interrupting her. “You say you’re sorry like it was your choice in the first place, but it wasn’t. It was mine to make, which is something you don’t seem to understand.”

“So make me understand, Oliver,” she replied, raising her voice. “Because from where I’m sitting, all I see is me getting in trouble and you resorting to kill so you can rescue me - something you stopped doing because you wanted to be a better person.”

Oliver averted his eyes, his lips pressed in a fine line. Felicity knew she was on dangerous ground, but she had to know. She had to know what made it okay to kill when it was her at risk, but no one else. She knew what Diggle believed to be true, but it wasn’t the same.

Felicity had to know what Oliver believed to be true for himself.

“I get so furious when you’re in danger,” Oliver confessed in a gravelly voice, his fist clutching his jeans. “I just...I lose my mind to that rage and when I realize…” he stopped himself and shrugged. “They’re dead.”

“I’m your line,” Felicity muttered with widened eyes, realizing that Dig was right all along.

“What?” Oliver frowned.

She shook her head, not wanting to detour just as they were approaching an important crossroad. “It’s nothing,” she assured him.

Oliver tilted his head, sending her a confused look. Honestly, he looked like a puppy whenever he made that face to her.

Though right now, he seemed far more like an incredibly _annoyed_ puppy.

“It’s not important,” she repeated, before gentling her tone.“So, you killed those men because you were...angry?”

Oliver stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. “It’s not about anger, it’s about someone daring to hurt you. I don’t deal with that...well.”

“Oh,” was her only answer to his declaration.

“I don’t regret killing those men,” Oliver told her in a resolute tone. “I don’t regret even killing the Count. People that try to hurt you…” He shook his head as the words fell away. “I can’t let that happen. I won’t.”

Felicity swallowed hard at the fierceness of Oliver’s expression. She knew he was intense, she just never imagined that particularly intensity would be directed at _her._

It was overwhelming enough to give her stomach butterflies, a sensation she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager in love for the first time.

She opened her mouth, even as she was uncertain of what she’d say, but knowing he deserved some kind of reply from her when her doorbell rang.

“It’s the food,” Felicity said, feeling grateful for the sudden interruption. “I’ll get it.”

She grabbed her wallet and went straight to the door to pick up and pay for their order. Felicity could feel Oliver’s eyes following her every move again, but again, she didn’t dare turn around, lest she be caught in the undertow.

After paying for their orders, she went to the countertop that separated her kitchen from her living room, ostensibly to serve their food on plates, but all the while wondering if she should keep pressing him, or let it all go. If she pushed, she’d have to speak first, and she had no idea what to say, because _thanks for caring so much you’re driven to kill again_ was _definitely_ not going to work.

And sure, she probably should have been prepared for his declaration; after all, Diggle had pointed out Oliver’s reaction whenever she was in danger. However, she hadn’t truly believed what Dig told her; not really, not until Oliver’s words started to hint that Dig’s speculation was far more likely than not. It had just felt...unlikely. Impossible. Unthinkable, even.  Felicity just couldn’t see her inspiring such a response in Oliver. And she desperately wanted to know the explanation Oliver gave himself to make sense of his actions.

He was a fighter, and she wanted to push him.

But in the end, she was his friend, not a sparring partner – and not to mention, completely unprepared for a conversation that she might have started, but one that she knew Oliver probably wouldn’t try to continue, if the stiffer form she saw when she glanced quickly at him was any indication. She decided that no answer was better than giving the wrong reply - which, knowing herself, was likely to happen.

They needed to be in the same place at the same time – metaphorically speaking, anyway. For now, she’d appreciate them being in a safe space where the hardest thing they had to decide was whether they wanted hunan beef or General Tso’s chicken first.

“So, how do you feel about a movie after we eat?” Felicity finally asked, happy when his reply was slightly softer, a little more relaxed.  

“Sounds good.”

“Good,” she smiled at him, her eyes finally meeting his over the countertop that separated her kitchen from her living room.

After a beat and a longer look, Oliver just smiled back.

 

* * *

 

Dinner was probably the best thing that happened after their heavy conversation. It allowed them to retreat back to safer topics, easing the strained atmosphere that settled between Oliver and her during their talk.

Oliver had lost his rigid posture, even offering a couple of smiles every time she made a quip. Seeing his stance getting relaxed as the night progressed, Felicity felt herself loosen up in response and show her more carefree side.   

“Come on,” Felicity said when they finished dinner. “I remember you told me you hadn’t watched Iron Man yet, so let’s do it!” She said, grinning at him. “It’s a must watch!”

“So you’ve said,” Oliver said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

She went over to one of her shelves and grabbed the Blu-Ray edition she owned. “Follow me, the player for this beauty here,” she shook the DVD case, “is in my bedroom.” She turned around and went straight to her room, expecting Oliver to follow her.

She turned on the lights and headed to her entertainment setup. Turning the TV on, she put the movie inside the device and sat on the bed to wait for the Blu-Ray to start. It was only then that she noticed a lack of Oliver in her bed.

“Oliver,” she turned to look at him. She had to stifle a laugh because she never had seen Oliver so...awkward. He was standing in her doorway, arms crossed over his chest, trying to keep up his inscrutable expression and totally failing at it. “You can come in and sit on the bed, I promise it doesn’t bite either,” she teased.

He tried to laugh, but it came out as a muffled sound that had Felicity stifling a giggle. Honestly, she wondered where the rumors of Oliver being a suave Casanova had came from, because she couldn’t conciliate that image with this man that looked uncomfortable merely standing on the threshold to her bedroom.

Not that he was there to go all Casanova on her, but you’d think someone with his reputation would be slick in situations like this. And _by that_ she meant acting normal for being in the bedroom of his female friend instead of finally sitting stiffly on the bed.

Or maybe it was actually good he was acting this way, because then it didn’t give any opportunity to Felicity say something that would leave her mortified and Oliver bemused.

“You can take off your shoes and lie down,” she told him as she slid a pillow his way.

He caught it easily, placing it behind his head. As Felicity took her own advice and lied down on the opposite side of where Oliver was, she heard the sound of shoes being dropped and she smiled when she realized he had actually listened to her.

“You’re welcome,” she told him when she heard a satisfied sigh coming from her right side. She didn’t move her eyes from the screen because the last thing she needed was the mental picture of Oliver in her bedroom. She needed less material for her wistful imagination, not _more_.

She turned off the light of her bedroom and started the movie. Soon enough, Felicity fell right into Tony Stark’s life and forgot everything else. That is, up until her eyes started weighing, the screen became a bit blurry, and then she was falling asleep.

 

* * *

 

Felicity woke up with a jolt, her eyes snapping open as she sat up and looked around.

“Hey,” a voice came from behind her. She startled when she felt a hand on her back. “Calm down, it’s me.”

Felicity immediately melted against his touch when she recognized the voice belonged to Oliver.

She was safe.

She was home.

“Nightmare?” Oliver asked, his voice sounding rough of sleep.

“I-I don’t know,” she replied. And she didn’t. It had happened a couple of times at the hospital, waking up abruptly, feeling scared, but with no real memories of the reason she felt that way. Dr. Decker said it was a kind of collateral damage from the type of violence she suffered during her kidnapping, but she found that explanation didn’t help much.  

Her heartbeat slowed down gradually as Oliver rubbed her back comfortingly. She didn’t know how long passed, but it didn’t take too long for her calm down and find herself sleepy once again.

Probably knowing by the way she was leaning on him that she was about to drift off again, Oliver settled her delicately against the mattress.

“Rest,” he told her, before moving as though he was going to get out of the bed. She quickly wrapped her hands around one of his.

“Stay,” she requested, tugging gently. In the harsh light of day and the full faculties of her equally sharp mind, she’d be horrified about how needy she must have sounded, but that overwhelming feeling from before took hold again, and she just…needed this.

“Are you sure?” Oliver asked, hesitantly.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Stay with me tonight.”

“Okay,” he replied in a soft voice that she never heard from him before.

She watched silently Oliver lying down in her bed, his head hitting her second favorite pillow while he fidget to find a comfortable position to sleep.

“Oliver?”

“Yeah?” He questioned, turning to look at her in the soft light from the street.

“Thanks for staying,” she whispered as if it was a secret. And it kinda was. She never asked anyone to stay. Did Oliver understand how important it was that she asked?

There was a beat of silence before he sighed.

“Thanks for letting me stay, Felicity.”

She smiled at his answer and closed her eyes.

It felt good to learn that Oliver actually seemed to understand _her_ enough.

 

* * *

 

When Felicity woke up the following morning, the place Oliver had been sleeping was vacant except for a note on her pillow that simply said ‘thank you’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to hit the kudos button and drop a comment about the story! But if you already gave me kudos and doesn't know what to say, I'll swear I'll be satisfied with just a 'EXTRA KUDOS ♥'. I just want to know people care and want more ♥**
> 
>  
> 
> P.S.: I said above about me getting into Kastle fandom (yes Frank/Karen from Daredevil/The Punisher). if any of you love them as much as I do and enjoy my writing, keep your eyes open cause I'll drop a fic of them soon ;D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I think we need to forget the schedule as I’m unable to follow it. The only thing I can promise is that the next one won’t take more than 2 weeks to be here. It took this long because I was away cause my dog got really sick and i spent all my days taking care of him. Anyway, it’s here now!
> 
> Second, the usual thanks for my amazing betas! [infinisei](https://infinisei.tumblr.com/) and [effie214](https://effie214.tumblr.com/) worked with me in this chapter and it was amazing! As always, It was a delight to work with them ♥
> 
> Now, enjoy the chapter!

Felicity disliked a lot of aspects of her new job. First, the lack of technological challenge. Okay, she’d be the first person to confirm that Queen Consolidated’s IT Department hadn’t possessed many challenges either, unless you counted executives screwing up perfect machines with their lack of care. Overall, her work at the IT Department was...quiet and very boring some days, but at least it was related to the field she loved.

On the executive floor, she had to deal with the big bosses within the company, and that was torture. There were the condescending terms of endearment like “sweetheart” and “love” whenever they requested something from her. It was incredibly creepy, especially since most of them were middle aged men that were probably old enough to be her father. Ugh.

Next would be, without a doubt, her co-workers. She knew everyone talked behind her back, even if nobody ever said anything around her. The looks they sent her whenever she and Oliver were walking together in the building, the whispers that stopped completely whenever she entered the room. She knew all of them believed that she got her job on her knees, that Oliver named her his secretary because it’d be more practical to have her a door away than have to travel eighteen floors every time he wanted a quickie.

Never mind that a year before, those same people considered her the best IT worker of the department and one of the most brilliant minds to work inside QC. Hell, she had a lot of people questioning why she’d chosen a simple job like the one QC offered her when, with her qualifications, she could easily have become a CIA or FBI tech agent. And now, just the possibility of Felicity having a romantic entanglement with the boss got them to disregard everything she had ever accomplished. But hey, that’s the world, right? Bigoted and misogynist.

Anyway, the point was: there was a lot to hate about her new “job,” but nothing compared to how much she hated organizing the paperwork Oliver had to review and sign.

It had been a couple of weeks since she was released from the hospital and allowed back to QC, and yet there were still things to reorganize thanks to the clearly incompetent temp they’d brought in. Felicity had no idea how they’d managed to screw up her filing system so badly, but they had. And now Felicity had to split her days between reorganizing old paperwork and sorting out the newest ones for Oliver.

Felicity couldn’t believe she was doing that at 2 p.m. on a beautiful afternoon instead of something interesting like developing software or hacking the FBI.

At the moment she was busy categorizing the papers by their urgency, adding yet more time on top of the highlighting and filling the pages with sticky notes she did to make it easier on him.

Honestly, the money QC paid her didn’t even began to cover the amount of the bullshit Oliver made her deal with. If she was Catholic, she’d expect sainthood after handling all of this.

Sighing, she threw her pen on the desk and rolled her stiff neck from one side to the other, trying to reduce the strain of being in the same position for a long time. She reclined her back in her amazing chair, one of the upsides of her new “job.” Yeah, it was really sad that one of the good things about her job was the quality of her desk chair.

Rotating her wrist, she prepared herself to deal with the last and biggest pile of paperwork in the company: Applied Science. Since she’d become Oliver’s Executive Assistant and took the time to look over their paperwork, she had learned a lot about their experiments. It was clear the Applied Science department should change their name to Kickass Department, because they were truly innovating and solving problems that she’d sell portions of her soul to tackle.

Not that she regretted working at the IT Department. Being in IT at QC gave her a real opportunity to make a difference, even though nobody could know about it -- meeting Oliver and Diggle, working with them to turn Starling City into a better place to live, was satisfying in a way that nothing she’d ever work on in Applied Science could be. She was finally using her skills to do good like she had always intended in her hacktivist days but had failed miserably. And if part of doing good was playing the Hildy Johnson to Oliver’s Walter Burns, so be it. She could endure it.

With a sigh, Felicity pulled the first document out of the pile and started studying the first request of the week from the Most Fun Department.

It was going to be a long and boring afternoon.

 

* * *

 

The clock read 5:45 p.m. when she was finally done with the paperwork. Groaning, Felicity got up, stretching her arms and back, trying to shake off the day’s stiffness. She’d thought she was used to dealing with paperwork in IT, but how wrong she was. She never felt so drained, both physically and mentally, as she felt after a day dealing with executives and a never-ending pile of paper. Sometimes she felt like crying in relief when the clock marked 6 p.m. It meant she could go and be released from this hell.

After stretching, she leaned over the desk to gather the paperwork Oliver needed to sign, glancing at his office.

From where she stood, she could see him sitting on his desk, wearing a somber expression while speaking on his personal phone. If he was using his phone instead of the one in his desk, the possibility of being a QC related issue was slim. If she could bet, she’d say it was vigilante related or, even worse, Slade Wilson related.

Her curiosity piqued, Felicity walked into his office, determined to investigate. If it was an Arrow related problem there was a good chance she could actually be useful – so much more fulfilling than her current QC work.

If she had any doubt that the call wasn’t company related, the fact Oliver was speaking Russian in a very _grr_ tone confirmed it.

Not waiting for him to hang up, she dropped everything on the middle of the desk and waited.

“What is it?” he asked roughly when he was done.

Frowning at his dismissive tone, she crossed her arms.

“Well, Mr. CEO, I brought the documents that need your signature so each department can get their work done and make money for you,” Felicity retorted with a bit of bite in her voice.

Oliver sent her an annoyed look. She simply replied with a raised eyebrow. If he wanted to have a staring contest, she’d be happy to hand his ass back to him; she always won that game.

“Can’t you do something about it, being my assistant? I have important things to do right now and you’re not b…”

“Can’t I do something about…” she echoed his words, incredulity and anger and flat-out emotional and physical exhaustion washing over her, and it crashed together in a tsunami of words. “You want me to do more for you than I already do?” Felicity shouted angrily at him. “I spent the whole day reading and organizing those papers,” she pointed at the pile over his desk, “so you didn’t have to! And you know what, Oliver? That fucking sucked because I hate this job you forced onto me without even asking if I was up to do it in the first place!”

Oliver’s annoyed expression faded into one of abashment.

“Felicity, I…”

“No,” Felicity cut him off, raising her finger at him. “It’s always you, you, you; now it’s me time, Oliver, and you’re going to shut up and listen.”

She heard the click of his mouth as he closed it and it felt so satisfying to hear.

“I’m working as your secretary as a favor, not out of necessity. I graduated from MIT with two Masters at the age of 19, Oliver! You know what that means? That means I am genius MENSA level. Any company in this world would be lucky to have me and you got me working as your _fucking_ secretary,” she told him, her lips trembling in anger. “So don’t come requesting for me to do more in your place when I already sacrificed my career by accepting this shitty job that everyone believes I’ve gotten from on my knees.”

She put her hands on the edge of his desk and leaned over, her eyes squinting in fury. “You’re going to sign every paper of this pile and deliver them to Isabel’s secretary. It’s the least you can do after I’ve already done what you were supposed to do as CEO. I’m basically running this company without any of the perks, Oliver!” She paused briefly before lowering her voice in a dangerous tone. “I don’t know who you think you are, but don’t forget that I know you, Oliver, and what all that entails.”

She watched Oliver’s face redden, his lips pressed into a thin line. She waited a couple of seconds, but Oliver stayed silent. Probably because he knew she’d take his head off if he tried to defend his actions.

She pushed her body away from his desk, straightening her posture. After a beat, she tried to neutralize her tone.

“I’m out of here and I won’t be at the Foundry. I just need a break, Oliver,” she paused briefly, considering the expression of alarm showing in his face. “I know you’ve got a lot in your plate, Oliver. But don’t think for a second you’re the only one.”

She turned around and started walking out of the office but, before she crossed the doorway, he called for her.

“Felicity,” he said in that pleading tone that she hated when he used during their fights. Sighing exasperatedly, she stopped and turned to look back at him.

“Unless you’re going to thank me for everything I do for you, I really don’t want to hear it, Oliver,” she said in a dejected voice, sending him another disappointed look before walking toward her desk. She grabbed her purse, turned off her computer monitor and went to get the elevator.

She tried not to think about how yelling at him really hadn’t made her feel better, instead hoping that maybe now Oliver would realize his screwups and finally take over the responsibility he had accepted in the first place.

 

* * *

 

“Except that implies - in this big grand scheme of Gods and Devils - that she's just a victim,” the Doctor claimed passionately to the Beast, who growled while he spoke. “But I've seen a lot of this universe. I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demigods and would-be gods,” Felicity sighed as she waited one of her top favorite lines the Doctor ever delivered in the whole show. “Out of all that - out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing,” the second the Doctor paused, Felicity held her breath just waiting for the next few words. “Just one thing... I believe in her.”

Felicity smiled as she watched the Doctor smash the first vase, making the Beast roar out of anger.

Obviously, that was the moment her doorbell decided to ring.

“Ugh,” Felicity whined, grabbing her remote control to pause the episode. “I swear to God, if it’s Mrs. Jackson again asking after her cat, I’m going to…do something dramatic,” she muttered under her breath as she crossed her whole apartment to get the door.

Without looking at the door’s peephole, Felicity opened her door and froze immediately at the view of Oliver leaning his head on her door frame with a bottle of wine a big envelope and an apologetic look.

Her expression closed and her hackles raised the second she registered who was standing there. Her grip on her doorknob tightened, her fingers itching to close the door in his face.

“What, Oliver?” she asked impatiently, her frustration from earlier blooming back to colorful life. “Came over to sweeten me up?” She pointed at the bottle he was holding.

He licked his lips and looked at the bottle before looking back at her. “No, I came here to… apologize,” he said with difficulty. “I brought the ‘82 Lafite Rothschild to convince you to listen to my apology.”

“Oh, you finally decided to fulfill your promise,” she pointed out in an acid tone. “More than a year after you made it.”

Oliver tried to suppress his annoyance, but failed. She could see her attitude was getting to him and, rightly or wrongly, that gave her a bit of satisfaction.

“Will you let me apologize or not?” He inquired with a note of impatience in his voice.

Felicity raised an eyebrow stalling him for a couple of seconds before turning away and heading to her living room, leaving her door open for Oliver to follow her.

“Let’s hear it,” Felicity said, sitting with one leg curled under her and the other loosely stretched over it while Oliver put the bottle on the countertop. He kept the envelope and joined her on the sofa.

“I value everything you do, Felicity,” he started, their eyes locking in on each other. “I’m sorry if I’m not good at...expressing it, but I’m incredibly grateful that you stuck around despite the pain in the ass I can be,” he admitted, staring at her with a level of emotion that Felicity couldn’t make sense of.

“I was...wrong to make a decision for you without consulting you and for that I apologize,” Oliver said in a rehearsed way that she’d bet just about anything on that he had practiced before coming over to talk to her. “I know you just accepted it out of loyalty more than anything else. And I’m aware of your intelligence,” his eyes glinting with the familiar pride that Felicity had become acquainted with whenever she did something particularly remarkable. “You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met in my life, Felicity.”

She bowed her head, feeling her cheeks redden at his genuine compliment. They were few and far between, but they were the words that mattered the most to her and that’s a thought she honestly doesn’t ever to dwell on.

“And I know I’m still in the CEO chair thanks to your work,” Oliver confessed and Felicity detected a hint of defeat that tugged at her heart. “Queen Consolidated deserves better than a CEO that has his Executive Assistant doing their job for them.”

Felicity felt her eyes widen, apprehension washing over her. “Oliver, I didn’t say what I did to make you feel like you should quit, I’m…”

He shook his head and held his hand up. “You were right and that’s the reason I actually came,” he handed her the envelope, a soft smile painting his lips. Felicity just looked between the envelope and Oliver, puzzled.

“It’s nothing bad, I promise,” he said.

Swallowing hard, she opened the envelope and pulled out of it a document. She hesitated, sending one last look to Oliver before starting to read.

As she read the lines, her eyes widened more and more. At the end of it, her mouth was hanging open in shock and she felt like she lost the power of speaking.

“What do you say, Felicity?” Oliver asked, in a soft voice.

“Have you lost your mind?” was the only response she was able to put together.

Oliver sighed, shaking his head. “I thought that might be your reaction. Can you at least hear me out?”

“Hear you out?” She repeated. “Oliver, I can’t imagine you having a good reason to try to make me the acting CEO. If this is about me yelling at you this morning, I-”

“It’s not,” Oliver said, cutting her off. “It’s because, unlike me, you have some notion of what you’re doing and, if not, you’re smart enough to figure it out on your own.”

“You’re trying to give me the responsibility of taking care of your legacy, Oliver,” she said, incredulous. “That’s crazy.”

“If there’s someone I’d trust with my legacy out of everyone I know,” he declared, reaching out to hold her free hand, his eyes fixed on hers, “it’d be you.” He tilted his head in that way he always did when he wanted to show he was being honest. “Without a doubt.”

Felicity shook her head, unconvinced. “I don’t understand, Oliver. Why would you let someone else to take over Queen Consolidated?”

“Because I don’t want to be there, Felicity,” he admitted in a low voice. “I didn’t want to be there in the first place. Why do you think I never lasted more than six months at any of the four colleges I attended?”

Felicity swallowed hard, remembering the few summers she had to play the waitress – even if it was to get money for MIT -- and suddenly she empathized with Oliver about being forced into a role family expected you to follow.

“What about your family, Oliver?” Felicity widened her eyes in dismay. “What will your mother think?”

“If my mother were honestly so concerned about the company, she’d have stuck around instead of pushing the CEO role onto me,” Oliver sighed. “I mean, clearly Queen Consolidated is the last thing in her mind because her next goal is becoming Starling’s Mayor.”

“Okay, fine,” Felicity relented slightly. “And what about Isabel? Won’t she use it to try to sway the board of directors in her favor when you try to put me as acting CEO?”

“I think we both know you can hold your own against Isabel,” Oliver replied, that impressed look on his face again. “And honestly, isn’t it a genius level MIT graduated that got two Masters before she was 20 a better choice to be a CEO of a technology oriented company than a former unqualified playboy who was stuck on a desert island for five years?”

Felicity opened her mouth, ready to refute his self-deprecating assessment about his situation. He might not have gone to college, but that didn’t mean he was useless or unqualified. He saved lives, for God’s sake, and changed so many others – hers included. But the emotion evident on his face told her it wasn’t the right time to add something even heavier to their discussion. She knew how hard it had to have been for him to come over and admit everything he just had, so she decided to ask in a soft tone:

“You really trust me that much?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

“You do know that people will think I seduced you into putting me in that chair, right?”

Oliver chuckled shortly, mirthlessly. “And I’m sure you’ll prove them all wrong.”

Felicity glanced from Oliver to the paper and started to truly consider Oliver’s proposal.

If she said yes, she’d have to fight tooth and nail to hold her ground. Because she knew it wouldn’t only be Isabel Rochev against her – a fight she wanted not only to have, but to win fully and finally -- but almost every person in that building. It’d be the biggest challenge of her whole life - professional or personal - and, for that alone, her fingers were already itching to sign the paper.

God, that would be spectacular.

Of course, the pessimistic side of her brain reminded her that she lacked the MBA and experience of leading a business and only wanting to prosper did not make a CEO.

Her thoughts were clearly showing up in her expressions because Oliver’s grip on her hand tightened.

“Felicity,” he said, stressing her name. “You’re already doing the CEO job. I’m only handling the title to you. Whatever choices you made truly worked because you managed to keep me in that chair for all these months.”

Remaining in silence, she just turned Oliver’s words over in her head. He was, unfortunately, right. While he’d sit with her to go over the documents, Felicity was the one who learned about it first so that she could explain and advise him in his decision. She already knew how to do the heavy work, and if she managed to do it for Oliver behind everyone’s back, she could do the same in everyone’s faces.

“I know you can do it,” he paused briefly, his eyes never wavering from her face. “I believe in you.”

How could she say no after that?

“Alright,” she nodded, even though she wasn’t exactly confident about what she was agreeing to do, but if Oliver thought she could do the right thing...that was enough for her.

He offered her a grin. “Now is the moment you sign and then I open that bottle of wine and we celebrate your promotion.”

“And a real one now,” she teased him, getting up to grab a pen and sign the documents. “You can get the wine glasses in the kitchen cabinet next to the window while I sign the papers.”

As she filled the blank spaces with her name, Oliver grabbed the glasses to serve them.

“Aren’t we supposed to let it air before we taste it?” Felicity asked as she accepted the glass Oliver was offering her.

“I’m not a sommelier, Felicity. I don’t care about proper etiquette.”

“You wouldn’t,” she uttered under her breath, Oliver rolling his eyes good-naturedly at her.

“What can I say? I don’t know much,” Oliver shrugged. “But, I do know that Queen Consolidated will only benefit of having you as CEO, Felicity.”

Felicity ducked her head, a tiny smile showing in her lips as her heart raced in her chest. She wasn’t one to seek out other people’s approval, but having Oliver appreciate her felt completely different.

Another feeling she tried to not focus her attention on.

“To the start of a new phase in my life,” she said, raising her glass. She knew her voice sounded shaky, but she hoped it didn’t show the effect Oliver had on her.

“To your success, Felicity,” he said, clinking their glasses together.

Without averting their gaze, they drank their first sip of the night.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, okay,” Felicity said between laughs. “My turn to ask!”

“Shoot,” Oliver replied, a smile gracing his lips, his cheeks red in a way Felicity never had seen before.

Tipsy!Oliver was a vision to be appreciated.

“Hmmm,” Felicity made a pensive expression, her finger tapping repeatedly against her bottom lip. Oliver was sitting closer to her than when he’d arrived, their bodies separated by just a few inches. He had his body turned toward Felicity’s, his position mirroring hers: their side pressed to the sofa and their arms resting on its backrest.

“Tell me one thing you wouldn’t normally share with me. Nothing serious,” she added due to his hesitating expression. “Just one thing you wouldn’t say.”

“Fine,” he nodded slightly, his eyes suddenly fixed on her hand, that was resting at the back of the sofa towards him. “You were the first person I saw as a person when I first came back.”

Felicity blinked, surprised. “What do you mean?”

Oliver glanced at her, before turning his eyes back to her hand. “In the five years away, I learned to see people as target or assets,” he said haltingly before pausing briefly. Then, a small crease formed between his eyebrows. “But then I walked into your office and then…You made me smile,” he smiled softly with a distant look in his eyes. “I hadn’t done that in years.”

“I’m glad.” When he said nothing, Felicity tentatively reached for his arm. “That’s good,” she said gently, even though the whirl of emotions stirring inside her from his words made her want to yelp slightly. And so she backed safely away. “I can’t believe you remember our first meeting.” She ran her fingers along the side of his arm and scrunched her nose. “That wasn’t my best moment.”

“I remember everything, Felicity,” he admitted, his voice sounding low and a bit unsteady.

She only stared, certain only of how unsure she felt in the moment, even as it felt exhilarating.

There was a beat of moment before Oliver spoke again.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” She threw back the question, trying to put her thoughts in order - which was particularly hard as her mind felt foggy; she decided to blame it on the empty wine bottle that laid at their feet.

“Share one thing you wouldn’t normally tell me.” He tilted his head, his eyes reflecting curiosity and a hint of vulnerability.

For a moment, Felicity felt torn. On one hand, she already knew what she wanted to say: something silly and inconsequential with a side of embarrassing, something that ultimately didn’t give too much away. That was usually her tactic whenever someone wanted to get to know her. But how could she do that when Oliver - her overly cautious friend - had offered freely an intimate information that she could bet he wouldn’t ever share with her if he was sober?

It felt dishonest to tell him something meaningless when she was the one encouraging him to let people in.

“I may be functional after the whole kidnapping thing,” Felicity started, finally finding the words to express just what she had been feeling since she’d stepped out of the hospital. “But I only feel truly safe when I’m at the Foundry or when you’re around,” she confided in a small voice, glancing shyly at Oliver.

His eyes, shining with something Felicity couldn’t – or maybe wouldn’t -- place, locked onto hers his fingers found hers as, intertwining as they rested on his arm.

“I hate the fact that that’s changed for you,” Oliver replied, his mouth downturned. “Even though it’s...nice to know that you trust me to keep you at least somewhat safe.”

“I do,” she replied softly with a small smile.

“You make me feel safe too, you know?”

Felicity tipped her head, confused for a moment. Oliver chuckled at her expression

“I have to trust you to be the voice that guides me whenever I’m in the field, but,” he paused, carefully choosing his next words, “not just keeping me from harm.”

“What do you mean?” Felicity asked, already bracing herself to a confession that would send her straight to another emotional roller coaster.

“You make me feel safe to just...be, you know?” She pursed her lips slightly, considering the meaning behind it, but before she could reach any kind of conclusion, Oliver continued speaking. “It’s like...I’m always aware of my surroundings, I can’t just...relax. Not since the Island. But when I’m with you…” He offered her a sad smile. “I can let it go.”

“God,” Felicity muttered, as she eyed him with concern. She had known Oliver for some time and she could pick it up whenever he was lying. So, she knew he meant exactly what he said. Although, she highly doubted he’d have shared his feelings if alcohol wasn’t involved.

That particular realization left quite the bittersweet taste.

“What?” He asked, frowning.

“Oliver Queen overshares when he’s drunk,” she stated, a note of astonishment in her voice.

“There’s that genius IQ again,” he teased, an affectionate smile that – despite the emotional precipice she’d felt like she was standing on a moment ago -- made her insides melt. “That’s our little secret, okay?”

Felicity grinned in response. She never thought she’d ever see Oliver being so…cute, but the picture he made in front of her was incredibly adorable.

“Anything else you feel like sharing?”

“I sleep better with you,” he said after a long pause.

Felicity’s eyes widened in surprise, a simple ‘oh’ falling from her lips.

“Yeah,” he replied, nipping at his bottom lip.

“Well,” Felicity cleared her throat, trying to find the right words – and failing spectacularly right off the bat. “You’re always welcome in my bed.”

“That was totally not a come on,” Felicity continued hurriedly, embarrassment making her blush. “I just -”

“I know, Felicity,” he interrupted her, his eyes shining with amusement. “I get it.”

“Good,” she said, offering him a hesitant smile. “So, do you want to turn this into-”, Felicity stopped abruptly before the word ‘sleepover’ came out from her lips. She couldn’t actually say that to him. That would be a very stupid idea.

“Sleepover?” Oliver said, seemingly reading her thoughts. Embarrassment made her cheeks burn, her eyes falling to her feet as she waited for the ground to open and swallow her whole.

“That would be nice,” he agreed, making Felicity look back at him with shock. “I think I’m too drunk to find my way back,” he finished with a tentative smile.

“Right,” she said, even though she knew that he would be perfectly able to get back if he truly needed to.

“Sleepy yet?” Felicity asked.

“Not really,” he shook his head, tilting his head to look at her.

“How do you feel about opening a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon this time?”

Oliver grinned, settling even more fully in. “Let’s do it.”

 

* * *

 

If someone asked Felicity how they made it to bed, she honestly wouldn’t be able to answer.

She was just aware that, at the moment, she was in her dark bedroom, lying down on her bed, staring at the ceiling while Oliver tried to find a comfortable position by her side.

That’s right. Oliver Queen was about to sleep in her bed. Willingly, she must add. With her in it.

She didn’t know exactly what to make of that information, especially after the obscene amount of alcohol she ingested. But the important point, the thing that should be the real focus at the moment, was the fact Oliver was sharing her bed because he wanted to.

Well, he didn’t use those exact words, but drunk or not, she was still pretty damn smart, and knew that was the gist of it.

He had actually admitted things to her. Personal things. The same Oliver that seemed too emotionally challenged to know how to express himself in ways other than annoyance, incredulity, rage and stoicism.

_Wait, was stoicism even an emotion? Totally not the point._

The point was that Oliver was in her bed. After sharing personal facts about himself.

Personal facts that, now that she thought about it, were completely about her in a way.  
Why were all his facts about her?

“Because I needed you to know,” Oliver suddenly said, interrupting her thoughts and startling her out of her reverie.

“What?” Felicity asked, turning to look at him, alarmed.

“You asked why I told you only things that involved you,” he replied with a dash of confusion in his voice.

“Right, because I said that deliberately. Out loud,” Felicity declared with false confidence but, instead of fixating on the fact she was voicing her inner thoughts out loud, she went to prod more answers out of him. “Why do you need me to know those things?”

There was a long pause and, for a minute, Felicity thought Oliver might ignore her question.   
“When you were…gone -” Oliver said with great difficulty, “I kept thinking about were the things I could’ve told you but never did because I’m...me.”

“So, now that I’m here you decided that sharing was caring?” Felicity asked, her voice lower than usual thanks to all the feelings Oliver was evoking with his...everything. Having him so close as they lied together facing each other didn’t help Felicity to keep her feelings in check.

Oliver half-chuckled. “Something like that.”

“Hmm,” was the only answer she offered, knowing instinctively that too many things had happened and she was too drunk to make sense of it all.

“Felicity?”

“Yeah?” She answered reluctantly. She didn’t know what she’d do if Oliver came out with another startling and heartfelt admission.

“Good night,” was the only thing he said, to Felicity’s relief.

“Good night, Oliver,” she replied in the same soft tone he had addressed her.

Felicity watched him close his eyes and settle his body comfortably in a position to sleep. His softened expression made her heart tug inside her chest.

The few times that Felicity dared to picture a situation where Oliver ended in her bed didn’t hold a candle to the real deal.

Finally, slowly, Felicity closed her eyes, and it wasn’t the darkness or the alcohol, but instead the sound of his breathing that lured her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to hit the kudos button and drop a comment about the story! But if you already gave me kudos and doesn't know what to say, I'll swear I'll be satisfied with just a 'EXTRA KUDOS ♥'. I just want to know people care and want more ♥**


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